Baseball: Vaselaney, Buffalo Grove emerge victorious

Buffalo Grove pitcher Jack Vaselaney couldn't have drawn a tougher assignment.

The sophomore was facing two-time defending Mid-Suburban East baseball champion Elk Grove and East player of the year Christian Camacho in the opening game of the MSL season.

Undaunted, Vaselaney outdueled Camacho to help the Bison to a 3-2 victory Monday in Buffalo Grove.

"I feel great right now," said Vaselaney, who went to distance to improve his record to 2-2. "We haven't had a couple good years in a row here, so it was good to start on the right foot.

Buffalo Grove coach Tim Miller said that his young starter was fearless on the mound.

"I thought Jack really competed on the mound today," Miller said. "He put us in position to win the game. We put it in his shoulders and we needed him to come through - and he did."

Vaselaney struck out three and allowed 6 hits. He kept the ball down and got Elk Grove to ground into 12 outs.

"All three of my pitches were on," Vaselaney said. "I was just trying to pitch to contact and let my defense help me."

That Bison defense came up huge in the sixth inning.

Elk Grove (5-4, 0-1) had cut the lead to 3-2 and had the bases loaded with nobody out.

Vaselaney then induced a hard groundball to third, where Chase Marsh picked up the ball cleanly, and to first, where Jack Churchill took the ball on two hops. Both players fired home to catcher Tyler Rundquist, who got force outs on both plays. Vaselaney then struck out the next batter to end the threat.

"My phobia is letting others down," said Marsh, who also had two other stellar defensive plays. "When the time comes, I know I have to come through."

Marsh also did it with his bat, although he never got a hit.

The junior delivered bases-load sacrifice flies in the first and the third innings, scoring Joey Pinakidis in the first and Leo Rule in the third. Rundquist had the other RBI for the Bison, driving home Pinakidis, who had walked, on a groundout.

"I thought our kids battled a very good pitcher," Miller said. "We made the most of our opportunities."

Camacho (3-1) was solid for Elk Grove. He allowed just 3 hits and none past the third inning while striking out eight.

Camacho, who will play at Auburn next year, also accounted for half of the Grenadiers' hits and a scored both their runs. After reaching on a bunt in the first inning, he scored on A.J. Lorenz's single. He had an infield single in the sixth and scored on Chuck Fleming's double.

"He is human," Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna said. "When you give up 3 runs, it is usually good enough to win.

"When a guy has been as good as he has been, the team maybe puts a little too much on him. We are still trying to figure out some things, but we will be alright."

- Dick Quagliano

Palatine 2, Hoffman Estates 1: Matt Lamm produced an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to help the host Pirates to an MSL West victory.

Hoffman Estates had tied it in the top half of the inning.

Chris Refka tossed a complete-game 4-hitter with 9 strikeouts for Palatine (5-5, 1-0). Lamm finished 3-for-4, and Danny Schneberger went 2-for-3 with a double.

Kevin Howell had a double for Hoffman Estates, and Ryan Davalos drove in Lucas Barnes with the Hawks' run as Ryan Ward suffered the loss.

Prospect 11, Rolling Meadows 4: The host Knights plated 6 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, breaking open what had been a game tied at 2-2 on their way to victory in an MSL East opener.

Trevor Engquist homered and drove in 3 runs in a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Prospect's Ryan Molini also had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs.

Luka Pavlakis and Ryan Laboda both had 2 hits for Rolling Meadows (0-4, 0-1).

The victory kept Prospect unbeaten this spring at 6-0 overall.

Fremd 4, Schaumburg 3: The host Vikings scored 3 runs in the third inning to take the lead for good in an MSL West matchup.

J.T. Kolderup contributed 3 scoreless relief innings to get a save for winning pitcher Ethan Hajdukovic.

Kolderup also drove in 2 runs, and Tommy Wingen went 2-for-3 with a double for Fremd (3-2, 1-0).

Tommy Larsen had 3 hits for the Saxons (6-4, 0-1).

Wheeling 12, Hersey 11: The visiting Huskies generated plenty of offense with their 8 hits and 10 walks but couldn't overcome 9 errors in an MSL East setback.

Wheeling had 11 hits, including doubles from Kyle Bullock, Brian Maloney, Bryan Niznik and Michael Wiase.

Brett Harris doubled twice for Hersey (2-6, 0-1), finishing his day 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored.

Barrington 13, Conant 0 (5 inn.): The host Broncos scored 7 runs in the third inning and tacked on 6 more in the fourth to make quick work of the Cougars (3-5, 0-1).

Tristan Michaels and Zach Balogh finished 2-for-3 with a double while Patrick Dehnert went 2-for-3 with a double and 3 RBI for Barrington (8-2, 1-0). That was more than enough for starter Brooks Gosswein, who struck out 10 and allowed 1 hit and 1 walk in 5 innings.